Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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McCormick messenger, McCormick, s. c., Thursday, may 7,1936 /kaK ADVENTURERS’ CLUB « 1 >» The Turn of a If heel By FLOYD GIBBONS Famous Headlins Hunter. W HATEVER you might say about gambling, it takes nerve to do it. The best of the professional card sharks are men who can keep a poker face and never bat an eye when they’re betting their last nickel. Yes, it takes plenty of nerve to gamble with your money —but it takes a doggone sight more courage to gamble with your life. I’ve got a yarn here from Adventurer William Joseph Brinkley, of Brooklyn, N. Y., and unless I'm no good at all at reading between the lines of a story. Bill Brinkley Is one of those lads who can keep a cool head and figure out the odds even at moments when his life is in the greatest of peril. If Bill hadn't had that faculty he wouldn’t be here collecting his ten and joining the Adventurers’ club today. For back in 1915 fate tested out those iron nerves of his—and it was one of the most rigorous tests fate ever dished out to a guy, at that. Iron nerve or no Iron nerve. Bill admits he was pretty scared when it hap pened. Maybe “pretty scared” Isn’t quite the expression for it either. \\ hen it was all over Bill’s nerves felt more like putty than iron. Bill Had a Prosaic Job Checking Freight Cars. It was down In the town of Atlanta, Ga., where he was working as an Inter change clerk for the Central of Georgia railroad. Bill was just a young lad then, and his job consisted of checking up on cars that were to be switched from one line to another. It was during the June peach season and there was a lot of traffic on the line. The railroad yard was full of box cars and it kept both Bill and his partner, Willie Baker, on the jump most of the time. The first job in Bill’s routine was to get the seal numbers on the cars as soon as a train entered the yard. Bill would get them on one side while his partner, Willie, got them on the other. They were sup- posed to wait for those trains at the break-up track, but sometimes they would walk out to meet them and ride in on the first car. That’s what they were doing when Old Lady Adventure swooped down and got Bill in her clutches. They had walked out to meet the “Special” and the Special was late tha. night, so, without realizing It, they walked a little farther than they had Intend ed. They met it quite a ways out of the yard when it was going at a pretty fast He Threw His Body Over the Rail Just in Time. dip. Willie caught the first car, but Bill let three or four go by before he could make up his mind to jump for it He caught the fifth car, and since be was sup posed to check the other side of the train, he started to climb over the top. But Falling Under a Train Isn’t So Prosaic! But Old Lady Adventure didn’t ever Intend that Bill should get to the other side of that train. As he reached for the top grab-iron with his right hand the one he was holding with his left broke away from the side of the car. His body swung out from the side of the car and started to fail. As Bill fell he clutched at the top grab Iron. He caught it, but his weight broke the hold. His body twisted—swung around between the cars. Then, as he dropped, his left leg hit the draw head. He swung head downward and fell—under the train. “I lay flat on my back,” says Bill, “and watched the bottoms of the cars .whiz by only a few inches from my face. The wheels ground past only a few Inches from my body on either side. I lay for a moment utterly unable to move. Then my mind began to race. Underslung Hopper-Bottom Cars Meant Certain Death. “In a flash I had figured everything out I had been lucky enough to land between the tracks—not on them. As long as I did not move I was perfectly safe unless—and there was the horrible possibility—unless there was a hopper- bottomed coal car In that train. The hoppers of those cars are only a few inches from the ties. If one of them hit me I would be mangled—mashed to a pulp— spread along a half mile of track.” And there was a darned good possibility that not one but several of these hopper-bottomed cars were in the train. In long trains like the one Bill was under it was the custom to put short, empty coal cars between the refrigerator cars to cut down the side sway. Bill knew that His mind was clicking on all four in his moment of peril—taking in every consideration. There was Just one way out—a perilous way—but something told BUI it was s better risk than waiting for one of those murderous hopper bottoms. He began watching the wheels as they clicked by—gauging their speed and their distance. Courage Plus Quick Thinking Saved Bill’s Life. Where two cars were coupled together the wheels were only about four feet apart, but between two wheels on the same car there was a space of forty feet. If he could throw his body over the rail as the front wheel passed, and get across before the rear wheel hit him—he’d be safe. There was no time to lose, but Bill gauged those moving wheels carefully. He nerved himself and tensed every muscle. Then, as a front wheel flashed by, he started to roll. He hit the rail and started to go over. Would he get across in time? Bill didn’t know because his eyes were shut He didn’t dare look at the thing he was doing. Then, all at once, he felt himself go over the top of the rail. He opened his eyes and saw clear sky overhead. He had made It I “Then,” says Bill, “came the reaction. I began trembling all over and got sick as a dog. And to this day the mere sight of a hopper-bot tom coal car can give me a bad case of chills.” ©—WNU Service. Primary Cause of Decay of Teeth Still Unknown Teeth may decay in spite of a com pletely adequate diet. It Is shown by experiments at the College of Phy sicians and Surgeons of Columbia uni versity. Tests lasting three years con tradict the-theory; widely held In both scientific and-lay circles,- that tooth decay Is caused by a dietary deficiency. “The practical significance of this finding is that, while we know It Is possible to reduce the amount of carles or dental decay by improving the diet, we now know that we cannot prevent decay completely by this last method,” Dr. Theodor Itosebury, assistant pro fessor of bacteriology, who conducted the research, writes In Scientific Amer ican Magazine. “The reason for this is that a deficient diet is a modifying in fluence rather than the primary cause of caries, which still remains virtually unknown.” Doctor Rosebury fed five genera tions of rats “a fully adequate diet.’ Over a period of three years, the rats continually developed caries. “This result,” he explained, “checks with hu man experience to the extent that we know the disease occurs In human be ings healthy In all other respects and giving evidence of adequate nutrition. We can produce carles more rapidly with diets deficient in mineral ele ments. But no matter how adequate we make the diet, dental caries is still produced.” To Drop In; to Drop Up Idiomatic phrases in the English Ian guage are the despair of foreigners; the phrases so rarely make sense If the' words are considered separately. The Idiom, “to drop in,” meaning to happen In, as for a chat, Is well estab lished, and is an accepted part of our speech. “To drop up” Is not generally accepted, possibly because of the uttei incongruity.—Literary Digest. TALL TALES 8 As Told to: FRANK E. HAGAN and ELMO SCOTT WATSON The Absent-Minded Carpenter HEN Charles G. Grant, former Ohio newspaper man, was a boy in Columbus he knew a carpenter named J. Elmer Putterbaugh who was just about the best in the business. No Job was ever too big for him to tackle, according to Mr. Grant. “Why, I remember the time,” he says, “when J. Elmer took the contract to build a big church over near Washington Court House. He got so Interested in his work that he forgot to stop. So the main aisle was so long that they had to have two preachers—one to stand at the altar and marry folks and the other to stand at the front door and christen their first baby as they came out.” Another time J. Elmer’s absent- mindedness got him In trouble. He was shingling the roof on a barn when a thick fog came sweeping up the val ley from the Ohio river. J. Elmer kept right on shingling and without noticing what he was doing shingled 26 feet of fog beyond the edge of the roof before he noticed his mistake. This turned out to be pretty serious because he fell and broke one of his legs off clean when he tried to get down. As a result he had to have a wooden leg, but that meant more trou ble. Every time J. Elmer reached down to scratch his knee cap he’d get a splinter in his finger. That made him so angry that he’d grab his saw and saw his wooden leg right off. It broke him up buying new wooden legs. At last he went to a pauper’s grave. “But they had a hard time keeping him in It,” declares Mr. Grant “You see, J. Elmer was something of a cross roads philosopher—just full of wise saws. His ghost used one of these to saw his way out of the pine box In which they buried him. Folks got pretty tired of having his ghost chas ing around at night So they finally captured it, enclosed it In a box of chilled steel and from that time on there has been nothing but frozen silence out of J. Elmer Putterbaugh.” The Crazy Woman Wrangler RT QUIGLEY was a cow hand, temporarily, for Half Circle ranch near Buffalo, Wyo.; it was there he met the wrangler from Crazy Woman River and heard his story. “I was a tenderfoot," acknowledges Quigley. “So much so. I’d rise at day break, saddle up and ride to Buffalo to eat hash house breakfast with the rest of the Chinamen. “One morning another rider yelled at me, back trail, but I paid no at tention. Figured he’d spotted me for a tenderfoot cause I wore the only stiff-brimmed Stetson of the county. “Catching up, the stranger intro duced himself as the Wrangler from Crazy Woman River. An old fellow, but plenty pert and capable. Pointing to a grove we passed, the wrangler said that there, after a night in Buf falo, he met a bear. Had only a rifle and just three .22 shorts—not much to use If you’re loading for bear. “He drew careful bead and fired. The bear went down. Then he was up. It was like the radio report of a prize fight My friend aimed and fired. Again the bear fell, once more was up. Aiming carefully over his horse's neck, the man from Crazy Woman fired his last .22 and saw the bear fall. “Leaping down, Bowie knife in hand, he charged. And he was tre mendously relieved to discover three bears, all dead In the trail . . . “I believe the story Implicitly,” says Quigley. “You see, this Crazy Woman fellow never once regarded me as a tenderfoot, but he treated me like an old-timer on the range.” It’s a Ringer! NE subscriber to the belief that, In the long run, truth must prevail is John D. McDougall,- nestor among grain receivers in the Chicago market. “Here Is the proof of what I am compelled to tell,” Mr. McDougall as serted, Indicating a sheaf of beauti fully ripened wheat. “The facts con cern a friend and customer of mine, one A. J. Sundberg of Hillsboro, N. D. “Sundberg shipped this sample of fine wheat. When I complimented him upon Its quality he relaxed, as most folks do under the Influence of praise, and he recalled some of the difficulties under which the grain grew. “Why, even at a time this wheat was ripening—my friend told me—he hitched his wagon team to a weeping willow tree out in the fields and re sponded to the cheery Invitation of the dinner bell. “He was gone 41 minutes but grass hoppers invaded the place in such numbers they devoured both horses and all of the wagon except Its tongue. When my friend finished his dinner all that was left of the horses was their shoes. And the grasshop pers were playing quoits with them.’ G Western Newspaper Union. Presidential Franks Since the early days of the nation Presidents of the United States have been authorized to frank their mall, that Is, send It post-free. Early laws, says Pathfinder Magazine, required the President’s actual signature “writ ten by his own hand” but from the time of Hayes on the well known “penalty” envelope has been used. More recently the custom has been to use the simple inscription, “The White House.” Print or Plain, Just So It’s Linen By CHERIE NICHOLAS -:-&n£.r*;-Xv>>*-nv3?.‘• W EAR linen in the morning, at noonday, during the afternoon lours, and when “the shades of night ire falling fast,” then wear linen for- nally. This spring and summer is iestined to go down in history as a janner linen season. The beauty about modern linens Is hat through ingenious processing they ire being made practically crush re sistant. The glory of this season’s monotone inens is their remarkably handsome colorings. For the tailored jacket suit md sports and travel costumes, em phasis is on plain, firm, medium veight linens in such deep rich tones is Dubonnet and oxblood reds, dark blue, navy, also skipper blue, Biarritz ?reen, the voguish spice brown, pop- jlar violet shades and other equally as ittractive colors. Shrimp pink and ;oral hues are especially noted. As o white and natural tones they will ead in the summer parade. Prints, perhaps, provide even more ?xciting news. Printed linens are making a bid for the formal as well is the daytime hours. Imagine an ex- juisltely sheer handkerchief linen (sheers in linen are latest word) in rust, brown and white done in an au- hentic paisley patterning. It Is linens like this that are providing new thrills n the way of media for smart evening 'owns. If youi fancy happens to run to modernistic florals In vivid colorings, ive suggest that you select for your next party dress one of the very new gor geous printed linens carried out in daring orange red and green on a navy mckground. Speaking generally in re gard to printed linens, whether for pressed for widely spaced bouquet ar rangements, for bizarre peasant pat- ternlngs, also motifs of Chinese char acter as well as mystic far-east fig ures and hieroglyphics. Scroll de signs that meander in linework all over the background are particularly good style. The illustration demonstrates how smartly and effectively monotone lin ens combine with linen prints. To the left you see the suit, a new Creed model, as It looks with the jacket worn. This stunning ensemble is made of a dark green canvas type of linen for the classically tailored jacket and skirt, using crisp white linen for the blouse patterned in a green and tan gerine linework crossbar print design. The linen is the finest possible qual ity, coming as it does from Moygashel, Ireland, noted for Its beautiful high grade linens. Observe the slight full ness at top of jacket sleeve, giving the new broadened shoulder line. The skirt has a single knife pleat at its left front to give necessary fullness. Removing the jacket of the suit, there comes to view, as pictured in the fore ground, the smart chantel print Moy gashel linen blouse. Its tangerine and green tones complement the monotone of the linen suit most pleasingly. The waistline of the blouse is slightly fitted. Two outstanding style details are the short puffed sleeves and the fact that instead of buttoning It Is laced up the front, tiny cord lacing in and out through hand-embroidered eyelets. © Western Newspaper Union. JEWELRY FOR EVERY HOUR IN THE DAY Jewelry for every hour In the day is now in vogue. Collecting precious, real jewelry has become the fad of ladies of fashion. Women who already own fine collec tions of jewels are having them re-set. Now that gold settings are again smart, many colored stones enhanced by this treatment are being remodeled. The suit is the perfect setting for a fine fob watch—a beautiful wrist watch, or a brooch or a clip watch. Brooches, worn at the neck of the new frilly blouses are smart and if they support a fine and distinguished jewel, they give tone and elegance to the street tailleur. Pearls are worn with all types of blouses. Pearl earrings are rapidly gaining in popularity. No jewel or decoration of any kind is as uniformly becoming and flatter ing to the wearer as pearls. Fluffy Bow at Neck Gives Ingenue Air to Wearer A new trick of the moment is to fasten a fluffy bow made of dozens of layers of pleated net, with a little nosegay of spring flowers In the mid dle, at the neckline of your new spring print. You’d be surprised at the gay ingenue air it gives you. Or you may choose one of the new “lace paper doily” collar and cuff sets, to give a last minute air to that long- suffering black crepe daytime dress. The new neckwear is shown in all the accessory colors of the moment, such as violet, tulip pink, rust, London tan, mimosa and, of course, white. Sports Perfume In time to scent your spring tweeds, knltteds and your smartest riding habit appropriately and glamorously comes a new sports perfume created by one of the greatest French coutur- leres. It’s named after one of the choicest kinds of leather, yet It Is delicate and unmistakably feminine too. SMART FOR SPORTS By CHERIE NICHOLAS The divided skirt costume is recog nized as eminently practical for ac tive sports wear. This simply cut dress Is tailored to perfection of qual ity kind linen Imported from Moyasbel, the finest flax producing section of the north of Ireland. It buttons up under the collar like a pinafore, with buttons running down under the arm. Its divided skirt means all the action you want on the golf links or tennis court. New Shaaes Spring’s top ranking colors Include imperial blue, aurora, Formosa blue, spinner’s red, the zinnia shades, pe tunia and Devon green. ***★★★★★*****★****2 I STAR | | DUST I ★ jM.ovie • Radio ★ ★ ★ ★★★By VIRGINIA VALE★★★ "^^OWADAYS there is one -L ^ sure way for an executive of a motion picture company to .find out whether his company consid ers him really important or not. If he’s a big shot, he’s not al lowed to fly. That’s a hardship when a man is commuting from Hollywood to New York and back again, of course—but hardship or not, they take trains. Only last week three of Metro’s big men wanted to get from New York to Hollywood In a hurry, and planned to fly; they had done it so often that It meant no more to them than walking down the street; they knew all too well that flying was no more danger ous than any other means of transpor tation. But at the last minute some body got wind of their plans. The resulting argument was hot and heavy —but in the end they went by irain. One of them didn’t really object, however. He was Howard Dietz, chief of publicity and advertising. “That’s all right with me.” he re marked. T’U win a thousand dollars at bridge on the way out.” —k— There’s just no stopping them—I mean these girls who are as deter mined now not to be blonde as they once were to be as blonde as possible. Jean Harlow started It, of course, by turning “brownette,” and now we have Carole Lom bard, Alice Faye and Joan Bennett follow- inging her example. They seem to feel that It will help them to get more serious roles —quite forgetting that who is naturally so blonde, has been doing pretty well with serious roles for a long, long time. —! On the other hand, Marion Talley (ex opera star and farmer, now work ing hard In pictures) has turned blonde for her first screen appearance. If you have seen her, or seen photo graphs of her in the old days, you’re going to be surprised at her appear ance; she has lost a lot of weight, and it is a big improvement. —k— Those Major Bowes amateur stage units have been so successful that Bob (“Believe It Or Not") Ripley is going to have some of his own; the first will begin Its tour somewhere in New Eng land the last of April. It will prob ably Include these acts: Little Jeanie, a thirty-pound midget; Grace Mur phy’s quintuplets, five ballet dances averaging three hundred pounds each; a concert pianist who plays—and well —with his elbows; John TIo and his talking bird; and a man who makes music with leaves. Bob himself, en countered at a party after the opening of Ringling’s circus, was trying to curb a strong desire to go out with them himself. —k— Frank Parker, who bobs up on so many radio programs, is going to make another picture; his first, you’ll re call, was “Sweet Surrender.” He’s been on the stage, so he’s prepared for a movie career. Speaking of his stage career, the other day Fifii D’Orsay came to a re hearsal of her radio show with a pic ture of the cast of “Greenwich Village Follies of 1925.” Willie Howard glanced at it, then at Parker, and said, “Frank, there’s a fellow in this picture who looks exactly like you.” “Looks like me?” retorted Frank. “It is me. I was a chorus boy.” Joan Bennett Ann Harding, I wish you could meet Bette Davis. She’s an overwhelming young per son, because she’s so devastatingly frank. No matter what you ask her she’ll answer It, and Intelligently too— with no regard for whether the movie moguls will like what she says or not Now some interviewers use rather brutal tactics. That doesn’t work with Bette Davis; she doesn’t get angry, she just tells the truth, with a pleasant smile. “How do you get along with your husband?” someone asked her recently. ‘There are reports that you’ve sep arated.” “Oh, we fight," she replied. “It’s my fault; sometimes I simply have to fight, and then nothing will stop me.” —k—- ODDS AND ENDS . . . John Bolet doesn't want to be tied down to one com- pany any longer; he’s going to free lance . . . Fredric March felt the same way; thought he was making too many costume pictures . . . So the first one he signed up for as a free lance was "Mary of ScoC md* with Katherine Hepburn . . . Paramount is going to give us "Beau Gesto” again, in color this time, with Gary Cooper in the leading role ... "A Message to Garcia" is a fine picture . . . Jane Withers does fine work in "Gentle Julia" . . . Shirley Temple got another raise the other day . . . Practically all the movie companies are trying to sign up Charles Boyer, who’s already under contract . . • You'll see him before long in "The Gar den of Allah" . . . And in color . . . Mar garet Sullavan’s broken arm is holding up two pictures . . . Myrna Loy will be teamed with Warner Baxter in "To Mary, With Love"; remember them in "Broad way Bill"? © Western Newspaper Union